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Artist creates 'empowering' wearable sculptures

Ula Ilnytzky Associated Press

Posted:
07/14/2014 12:15:21 AM MDT

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In this July 10, 2014 photo, artist-activist Linda Stein runs her hand over the surface of one of her sculptural avatars, a wearable piece of art made of found objects designed to empower and protect the wearer, during a workshop and interactive gallery experience at her studio in New York. Stein's artwork grew out of her sense of vulnerability in the wake of the Sept. 11 terror attacks. Her studio and living space are only blocks away from the attack site in lower Manhattan. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

NEW YORK (AP) — Linda Stein wants people to armor themselves in her art.

She creates full-length wearable sculptures embedded with all manner of found objects, including driftwood, engraving plates, steel wire, zippers, pebbles and comic book imagery of superheroes.

Her idea grew out of her sense of vulnerability after the Sept. 11 attacks, with the aim of giving wearers a sense of empowerment and protection. Her targets are any form of institutionalized oppression, such as sexism, racism and homophobia.

She also designs "bullyproof vests," made from a patchwork of fabrics featuring such female symbols as the Japanese anime character Princess Mononoke and the comic book hero Wonder Woman, along with words "I will ... not let cultural impediments and sexual stereotypes hold me down."

In this July 10, 2014 photo, artist-activist Linda Stein, right, and her personal assistant Henry Galarza help Rinku Sen don a wearable piece of art in Stein's gallery and studio space in New York. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) (Kathy Willens/AP)

At a recent "body swapping" at her Tribeca studio, she invited a group of professional women to try on what she calls sculptural avatars, which can each weigh from seven to 20 pounds. Stein asked the wearers to imagine they are trying on another skin "to get in touch with how their bodies feel."

"It's like putting on a whole new persona," said Rinku Sen, who struck a "Rocky" pose in front of a mirror in a "Wonder Woman" torso made of acrylicized paper.

Another participant, Dana Sparling, donned a heavier metal creation she said felt like a "shield between me and the world."

Stein explained that she features Wonder Woman prominently in the works because "she never killed."

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"She protected the weak and downtrodden wearing her bracelets and her black lasso. It's very hard to find a female superhero that's not violent and isn't a total sex object," Stein said.

The representation of gender and sexual identity is a longstanding tradition in activist art that dates back to the feminist movement, said Muhlenberg College art history professor Margo Hobbs. She said Stein's work is particularly powerful because "it works on the viewer's body to bring about a really visceral rather than an intellectual experience."

In this July 10, 2014 photo, artist-activist Linda Stein, left, talks to visitors wearing one of her "bulleyproof" vests at her gallery and studio space in New York. The vests and other artwork created by Stein is designed to help the wearer feel a sense of empowerment and protection as well as explore gender stereotypes. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) (Kathy Willens/AP)

Reminiscent of classical torsos, a group of her sculptures is making the rounds at 24 universities, galleries and museums across the country in what is a seven-year traveling exhibition, "The Fluidity of Gender," that runs through 2017. The exhibition is accompanied by a lecture and "body-swapping" performance in which participants explore gender roles and stereotypes.

In this July 10, 2014 photo, artist-activist Linda Stein poses with one of her sculptures, constructed with an embedded hubcap, at her studio and gallery space in New York. Stein's wearable artwork is designed to empower and protect the wearer as well as break through gender stereotypes. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) (Kathy Willens/AP)

In this July 10, 2014 photo, artist-activist Linda Stein speaks to a group of women visiting her studio in New York while wearing a "bulleyproof" vest she created using Wonder Woman imagery designed to empower and protect the wearer. Stein's wearable artwork and sculptural avatars grew out of her own sense of vulnerability after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that occurred within blocks of her studio and living space. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens) (Kathy Willens/AP)

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